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Revised: May 2022

Athletics Department Administration, Coaches, Staff, and Student-Athletes

The policies described below are intended to protect the integrity of the academic experience of student athletes. They provide structure and guidance to students, coaches, faculty, advisors, and members of the Athletics Department toward the common goal of ensuring the quality and integrity of the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno degree.

1. Contact Between Athletics Department Staff Members and Faculty

The only members of the Athletics Department who may contact faculty on issues specific to academic progress of student-athletes are the Athletic Director, AthleticsAcademic Services staff, NCAA Compliance staff, and the Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR). This policy does not prohibit members of the Athletics Department from interacting with faculty members on issues unrelated to student-athlete academic progress.

2. Athletics Department Contact with Registrar's Office, Financial Aid Office and Admissions Office

Coaches and other sports-specific personnel (e.g., Director of Operations, managers, Graduate Assistants (GAs) may not contact university employees/administrative faculty working in Non-Athletic University Departments about matters related to prospective or enrolled student-athletes. Only the Athletics Director, the Athletics Academic Services staff, and the Athletics Compliance staff shall be responsible for addressing questions or concerns regarding the admissions process, status, and/or the ability to be admitted to the University, as well as questions regarding academic or competition eligibility related to specific prospective or enrolled student-athletes. These questions or concerns shall be addressed directly to the NCAA Eligibility staff within Admissions and Records. Coaches and other sports-specific personnel (e.g., Director of Operations, managers, GAs) may request presentations to their teams, current student-athletes, or prospective student-athletes about programs, campus-wide resources, or events.  They may also ask general non-student specific questions.

3. Extra Benefits and Special Academic Arrangements

Deans, professors, teaching assistants, and any other instructors shall follow all departmental and university policies and shall not make special arrangements for student-athletes that are not made available to non-athlete students. Examples include, but are not limited to, special arrangements for testing, grading, time extensions, and submission of coursework that are not consistent with the provisions of the University Class Absence Policy stated in UAM 3,020. Special arrangements that are not consistent with UAM 3,020 may constitute an extra benefit and render the student-athlete ineligible or could constitute academic misconduct. All questions related to whether or not an arrangement constitutes an NCAA extra-benefit violation should be directed to the Associate Athletics Director for Athletics Compliance.

4. Proctoring Exams for Student-Athletes

In the event that an exam must be proctored by someone other than the instructor, the following are acceptable and unacceptable options:

1. Acceptable: the home and/or host institution’s Faculty Athletics Representative, a home and/or host institution’s Compliance staff member, and/or a member of the host institution’s Academic Services staff at a testing center.
   1. All arrangements for the proctored exam(s) should be made by the team's athletics academic advisor and/or the FAR.
2. Unacceptable: Coaches and all other Athletics department staff (including Academic Services staff, Athletics Department administration, assistant coaches, trainers, media relations staff, and all other home institution Athletics Department personnel. Suitable proctoring arrangements include:
   1. If the FAR or Compliance staff member is traveling with the athletic team, they may serve as the proctor for the exam(s).
   2. Contacting any academic services staff at the host institution to arrange for a member of their staff or the FAR to proctor the exam(s).
   3. A virtual testing option with the home and/or host institution's testing center.
   4. An acceptable solitary space for remote proctoring (Proctorio, Examity, or other proctoring software utilized by faculty).
   5. Contacting any academic services staff member outside of Athletics at the host institution to arrange for a member of their staff or the FAR to proctor the exam(s).

1. If a student-athlete is required to take an exam outside of regular class hours, but is not traveling for competition, the Athletics Department staff (including Academic Services staff) shall not serve as proctors for student-athlete exams. The team’s athletic academic advisor shall make arrangements with approved proctoring representatives, which may include:
   1. Proctors through the Disability Resource Center
   2. University Testing Center
   3. Faculty members
   4. Compliance staff members
   5. Individuals in the role of the FAR
2. Those arranging for the exam proctor shall confirm with the course instructor the following points in writing: the material(s) that will be permissible to use in the exam; time allotted for the exam; handling of the exam; return of the exam; and whether the exam is open/closed notes and/or whether use of the book or any other materials are acceptable. The instructions provided by the course instructor shall be kept on file with the individual proctoring the exam. Student-athletes shall not have cell phones in their possession during the exam. Student-athletes shall only have those materials allowed by the course instructor; electronic devices are not permitted during the exam unless stated in writing as acceptable by the course instructor.

5. Access to Student-Athlete Accounts

In accordance with University Security Policy and federal law, coaches, athletics staff, and the Athletics Academic Services Department shall never log into a student-athlete’s: (1) MyNEVADA; (2) email; (3) WebCampus accounts, or (4) any other software, learning management system, or internet portal that would provide access to the student-athlete’s academic information and coursework. Athletic Academic Coordinators are assigned an observer role in WebCampus accounts for each Student-Athlete's published courses. The observer status is audited and assigned by the Office of Digital Learning (ODL) for the purpose of monitoring eligibility. The student-athletic observer role is a reduced student read-only role and the observers are unable to participate in the course. The observer can see:

• Their assigned student athlete’s grades (grade update messages)
• Published files within modules and file menu
• Announcements
• Messages sent to “all in class” (if observers included in the thread) and messages sent to an observer from student athlete or instructor
• Modules/ Assignments/ syllabus depending on the structure of the course
  • As a note, athletic observers cannot see discussions since they would include students that are not theirs

A student-athlete may log in to his/her own account with a coach, athletics staff member, or the team’s academic advisor for the purpose of demonstrating grades or progress through course assignments. Additionally, only the student-athlete shall make adjustments, submissions, or changes to any of these accounts. The Assistant Athletics Director will send an email prior to the beginning of the term to all faculty who have a student-athlete in their course explaining the observer role. Communication about the syllabus wording and other information related to this will come from the Office of the Provost. Additionally, there will be two observers per student-athlete: the Assistant Athletics Director and the specific sport advisor. If the specific sport advisor is changed or needs to be out for an extended period, an observer change will occur and the faculty will be notified.

6. Student-Athlete Maximum Course Enrollment

Policy for the regular review of student-athlete enrollment in courses:

1. Student-athletes shall not constitute more than 35% of the total enrollment in any one section of a course, except as allowed below.
   1. Certain academic terms offer limited course selection and student-athlete enrollment percentage may be permitted by the Executive Vice President & Provost to exceed 35% in a course section; i.e., first and second session summer school, bridge program, and Wintermester courses.
   2. Certain PEX courses are designated specifically for intercollegiate athletic training and may be permitted to exceed 35% upon review and approval by the Executive Vice President & Provost.
   3. Academic Services shall review course enrollments after the conclusion of priority registration to identify any courses where student-athlete enrollment exceeds 35%. The athletic academic advisors and the Student-Athlete Enrollment Management team will discuss the courses of concern.  Within one week of the close of priority registration, the Student-Athlete Enrollment Management Team shall report any classes where student-athlete enrollment exceeds 35% to the Executive Vice President & Provost in writing.  Academic Services shall work with the Registrar’s office to obtain a report to be run by Academic Services upon demand, but no later than the first week of each semester listing the total course enrollment numbers and number of coded student athletes in each class section.  If a course has greater than 35% enrollment of student-athletes, the Assistant Athletics Director will inform the instructor the reasoning behind this enrollment.

7. Student-Athlete Enrollment Management Review Team

a. The Student-Athlete Enrollment Management Review Team shall meet once a semester to identify classes with student-athlete enrollment of 35% or higher and discuss trends in course enrollment, majors, and preferred instructors among student-athletes.

b. In the event that enrollment of student-athletes in a course exceeds 35%, an oversight committee, the "Student-Athlete Enrollment Management Review Team," will review the course. The team will consist of the FAR, the Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, the Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services, Sport Administrator(s), and the Coordinator for Undergraduate Advising.

c. The Executive Vice President & Provost shall make final determinations on the status of courses that exceed 35% student-athlete enrollment.

8. PEX Course Enrollment

Student-athletes may only enroll in a maximum of six credits of PEX courses (the sport specific and conditioning courses for intercollegiate athletics) throughout their collegiate career. Upon entering the fifth full-time semester, a student-athlete may not take PEX sport specific activity courses unless the student-athlete’s major allows for additional elective credit.